Container carrier

ABSTRACT

A container carrier blank formed from a flat sheet of resilient material and having a plurality of sockets for receiving and gripping the central portion of a plurality of containers. A handle is joined to the body member of the carrier at opposing ends thereof and is so shaped as to be substantially resiliently displaceable transverse to the plane of the body member.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Ronald C. Owen Harwood Heights, Ill. [21] Appl. No. 843,472 [22] Filed July 22, 1969 [45] Patented Sept. 28, 1971 [73] Assignee Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Chicago, Ill.

[54] CONTAINER CARRIER 2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 294/872, 206/65 E [51] Int. Cl B65d 71/00 [50] Field of Search 206/ 64 C,

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,186,544 6/1965 Curry et al 206/65 E I l 'HIHIIII' 3,232,422 2/l966 Whyte 206/65 C 3,269,530 8/1966 Wanderer..... 206/65 C 3,330,408 7/1967 Wanderer..... 206/65 E 3,374,028 Wanderer 206/65 C Primary Examiner-Joseph R. Lec lair Assistant Examiner-Stephen P. Garbe Attorneys-Olson, Trexler, Wolters & Bushnell, Robert W.

Beart, Michael Kovac, Barry L. Clark and Jack R. l-lalvorsen CONTAINER CARRIER This invention relates to novel container carriers made of a resilient material and used for carrying a plurality of containers, and more specifically, to novel carriers for bottles and the like.

Many container carriers have been devised in the past, as disclosed for example in US. Pat. No. 3,232,422, which issued to D. D. Whyte on Feb. I, 1966, for an Article Carrier" and U.S. Pat. No. 3,269,530 which issued to H. J. Wanderer on Aug. 30. 1966 for a Unit Package with Handle Device. The above noted US. Patents disclose container carriers which are formed from a flat sheet of resilient material and which contain a plurality of sockets for receiving and gripping a plurality of containers at the upper end thereof, and a handle joined to the body member of the container carrier. Container carriers of this type have proven successful in application to cylindrical containers such as beer cans, soft drink cans and the like. However, problems have been encountered in the use of this type of carrier in connection with noncylindrical containers such as bottles.

An important object of this invention is to provide a novel container carrier formed from a flat sheet of resilient material and which is applicable to bottles and the like.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a novel resilient sheet material carrier especially suitable for use with bottles and the like and adapted securely to retain the bottles while also being adapted to be easily assembled with the bottles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention it has been found that a container carrier of the above noted type can be formed by providing in a body member of resilient material, a plurality of sockets which are dimensioned and shaped to receive and grip the central portion of a container, and by providing a handle which is joined to the body member at opposite ends thereof and so shaped that the ends thereof which join the body member are substantially resiliently displaceable transverse to the plane of the body member. In accordance with this invention, it has been found that such a container carrier will, when grasped by the handle and lifted, provide secure support for bottles or the like due to the distribution of forces provided by virtue of the manner in which the handle is joined to the body member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one illustrative container carrier of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the container carrier blank from which the container carrier of FIG. 1 is formed;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the plane 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the container carrier blank from which the embodiment of FIG. 4 is formed;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a third embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the container blank from which the embodiment of FIG. 6 is formed;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the invention; and

F101 9 is a plan view of the carton container blank from which the embodiment of FIG. 8 is formed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 shows one illustrative embodiment of the invention in use and FIG. 2 shows the carton blank from which the embodiment of FIG. I is formed. Referring to FIG. 2, this embodiment of the invention comprises a body member 10 which is made from a flat sheet of some suitable resilient plastic material such as polyethylene. A plurality of sockets 12 are formed in the body member 10 for receiving and gripping the central portion of a plurality of bottles 14 as shown in FIG. ll.

A straplike element, or handle 16, is joined to opposite ends of body member 10 by Y-shaped connecting portions I7 and 19, which are joined to the four corners of the body member 10. The Y-shaped portions 17 and 19 in this particular embodiment are formed by scallop-shaped cuts 18 and 20, which define branches 22, 24, 26 and 28 of the portions 17 and 19 which are integrally joined at 29, 31, 33 and 35 to the four comers of the main carrier body. The entire container carrier blank is cut from a flat sheet of resilient material in the pattern shown in FIG. 2.

In application, the container blank shown in FIG. 2 is slipped down over the bottles 14 until. sockets 12 engage the central body portions of the containers. For the purpose of gripping the containers 14, the sockets 12 are formed in an oval shape having a major axis slightly smaller than the diameter of the bottles and parallel with the longitudinal axis of the body member 10. The socket means 12 also have a minor axis substantially shorter than the diameter of bottles 14. Thus a positive gripping force will be generated when the body member 10 is forced down over bottles 14.

The handle 16 remains in the plane of body member 10 at the side thereof until it is grasped and raised as shown in FIGS. I and 3 for the purpose of carrying the containers. When the handle 16 is grasped and raised, it is displaced resiliently upwardly from the plane of the body member 10 at the Y-shaped connecting portions. The weight of the resulting package is supported by the handle through the four comers of the body 10 so that the body 10 is maintained under tension throughout. This action causes the margins of the oval sockets to contract for increasing the grip on the containers.

Referring to FIG. 5, this embodiment of the invention comprises a body member 30 in which a plurality of oval-shaped sockets 32 are formed with their major axis being aligned parallel to the central axis of body member 30 and with their minor axis being slightly shorter than the diameter of the bottles. Perforated lines 34 are provided around each of the sockets 32 for tearing the sockets loose to remove the bottles. Attached to opposite ends of the body member 30 is a strap or handle 36 having doubled or looped portions 37 and 39 at the ends thereof which join the body member 30 at 41. As shown in FIG. 4, the loop in the opposing ends of handle 36 permits the handle to be displaced upwardly from the plane of the body member 30 when the handle is lifted as shown in FIG. 4. Auxiliary openings 38 and 40 are formed in the body member 30 to assist the perforated lines 34 for quick tear removal of the bottles 14.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another embodiment of the invention comprising a body member 42 in which a plurality of sockets 44 are formed. A strap or handle 46 having looped or doubled end portions 45 and 47 is attached to opposite ends of the body member 42. Transverse openings 48 and 50 are formed at the point where the handle 46 joins body member 42 for defining connecting sections 51 and 53 whereby the handle is effectively joined with the four corner portions of the main carrier body.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show another embodiment of the invention which contains two handles. This embodiment comprises a body member 52 in which a plurality of sockets 54 are formed similar to the other sockets described above. This embodiment of the invention, however, ditTers from the others in that it has handle means comprising two handles or straps 56 and 58, both of which are attached to opposing ends of the body member 52 by means of loops 59 and 61 which permit the handles to be displaced resiliently upwardly from the plane of the body member at the point where they join the body member when the handles 56 are grasped and raised. The bandles make contact with the body member toward the corners thereof and near the centerline of the two rows of sockets. FIG. 8 shows the appearance of this embodiment of the invention after the bottles 14 have been inserted into their cor responding sockets and after the handles 56 and 58 have been grasped and raised for the purpose of carrying the container.

Although this invention has been disclosed with reference to several specific embodiments thereof, it should be understood that many modifications can be made in the disclosed embodiments without departing from the basic spirit of the invention and it should be understood that this invention includes all modifications falling within the scope of the following claims.

The invention is claimed as follows:

1. A one-piece container carrier formed from a flat sheet of resilient material and comprising a body member, a plurality of socket means formed in said body member for receiving and gripping the central portion of a plurality of containers, and integral generally U-shaped handle means joined to said body member at opposite ends thereof and initially lying within the plane of said body member outside the confines thereof, said handle means being so shaped at the ends thereof which join the body member as to be substantially resiliently displaceable transverse to the plane of said body member, and wherein said handle means includes opposite end connecting portions joining the carrier body member adjacent four spaced comer portions of the body member.

2. A container carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein said handle means comprises a single straplike element and connecting portions between ends of the straplike element and said comer portions of the body member. 

1. A one-piece container carrier formed from a flat sheet of resilient material and comprising a body member, a plurality of socket means formed in said body member for receiving and gripping the central portion of a plurality of containers, and integral generally U-shaped handle means joined to said body member at opposite ends thereof and initially lying within the plane of said body member outside the confines thereof, said handle means being so shaped at the ends thereof which join the body member as to be substantially resiliently displaceable transverse to the plane of said body member, and wherein said handle means includes opposite end connecting portions joining the carrier body member adjacent four spaced corner portions of the body member.
 2. A container carrier as defined in claim 1 wherein said handle means comprises a single straplike element and connecting portions between ends of the straplike element and said corner portions of the body member. 